Why You Should Keep Tools in Your Car
When I was in college, I drove a 1989 Honda Accord. It was a great car that explored the southeastern US with me and my friends. It was my sophomore year and the day before Christmas break. Finals were over, my stuff was pack and we were heading home in the morning. A friend and I decided to celebrate the end of the semester and go out. The windows were down (we were in Florida!) and music was playing, everything was perfect. Then suddenly a loud rumbling sound interrupted our celebratory evening, it sounded like a motorcycle but after a few seconds I realize it was coming from MY car. YIKES! I quickly pulled into the nearest parking lot to survey the problem. I popped open the hood and stared at the inner workings of my car, completely clueless. This was in the days before cell phones were the norm but luckily my dad gave me a “car phone” for such an occasion.
Most of our friends had already left to go home for break, but we did manage to track down a few guys, none of whom knew anything about cars. While we waited in the parking lot of a sketchy hotel for our clueless fellas to arrive, a rugged man noticed two helpless college girls. He asked if we needed any help and we politely declined assuring him help was on the way. He insisted he take a looks telling us he was an auto mechanic. About this time, our guys arrived and began investigating our car troubles as three college boys stood around the hood of my car scratching their heads unsure of what to do. The rugged man returned and as soon as I turned on the car he immediately identified the problem as the spark plug. He asked if I had any tools in my car, and I suddenly remembered that my dad put a tool kit in the trunk. He popped across the street to the conventionally located auto parts store and bought us a new spark plug, which he installed with the tools my dad had thoughtfully given me. We kindly thanked the rugged stranger and went on our merry way.
